Photo: Burley Packwood · CC BY-SA 4.0Patagonia’s library lends 24 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Patagonia Public Library serves Patagonia’s 800 residents. Last year it lent 59K books, movies and e-books and logged 2,400 visits.
What Patagonia’s library is like
More library cards than residents
1,563 cards for 800 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Most of Patagonia’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 67% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 33%. What people borrow ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 58%. People come in, pick up their books and go, or skip the trip: 67% of loans are digital. How it compares ↓
Patagonia invests in its library
Patagonia Public Library spends $162 per resident a year, about three times the typical $54 for a library its size. All of it comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Patagonia’s civic life grade
Patagonia isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
67% of borrowing is digital
59K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
39,801 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Patagonia Public Library serves 800 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
11 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Patagonia last year.
Find it
Patagonia Public Library, 346 Duquesne Ave, Patagonia.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Patagonia? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $7.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Patagonia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $129K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $928K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $129K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 1,563 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Patagonia Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Patagonia
Does Patagonia have a public library?
Yes. Patagonia Public Library, 346 Duquesne Ave, serves Patagonia’s 800 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Patagonia Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Patagonia’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 73.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Patagonia’s civic life grade?
Patagonia isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Patagonia.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.